Grooming loops have long been used by groomers to position and/or restrain animals, particularly dogs and cats, on a grooming table or platform while the animal is being groomed. The loop is typically connected to an eye-bolt hanging from the upper end of an L-shaped grooming arm, often by a swivel snap closure mechanism that engages the eye-bolt. In earlier versions of the grooming loop, the loop was simply placed over the animal's head to rest around its neck. With the animal's movement limited or restricted by the loop, the groomer would then cut and comb fur, remove fur from the body, paws, face, and head, pare toenails, dry and do all the procedures for proper grooming of the particular breed being groomed.
Restraint devices similar to groomers' loops have been used by animal handlers other than groomers, such as veterinarians who restrain animals during examination and minor surgery. Such restraint devices are often groomers' loops adapted by or for the animal handler to suit the needs of the particular circumstances.
Advances over the basic groomer's loop have been made to provide the animal handler with greater control over the animal and to increase the comfort level of the restrained animal, thereby reducing the incidence of handlers being bitten and injuries to the animals themselves. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,210, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes an adjustable lock device suitable for being clamped at one end to the vertical portion of a grooming arm. The other end can be attached by a snap closure mechanism to a training aid combination collar and muzzle. This type of solution does not work well since the animal is left with substantial freedom to move, and the more an improperly restrained animal feels free to move around, the greater the likelihood of injury to either the animal or the handler. Moreover, the limitations imposed by attachment to the vertical portion of the grooming arm and the muzzle tend to make the animal less accessible during grooming. In addition, when the animal is muzzled, its mouth area and some parts of the face cannot be groomed.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,365,685, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes an animal restraint system in which the animal is cross tied between a low point, at, below, or above the animal's head, and a high point above the animal's head. The low point may be an adjustable lock device secured to the vertical portion of the grooming arm, and the high point may be, for example, an eye bolt on the upper horizontal portion of the grooming arm. The animal restraint system incorporates a groomer's loop which includes a quick release buckle in-line with the loop and a clamp for adjusting the size of the loop about an animal's neck. This combination of features for the loop is advantageous because it is a fully adjustable system to define the animal's range of movement, thereby providing a comfortable fit for the animal and accommodating a wide range of animal sizes.
One of the deficiencies with the combination of the groomer's loop and the adjustable lock device is the complexity, primarily from a manufacturing point of view, of the adjustable lock device. This complexity results in a higher than desired cost to groomers and other users of the adjustable lock device. Therefore, a need exists for a simplified, and less complex, adjustable lock device.